Jer 15:19 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD answers Jeremiah’s complaint that he must return to Him if he has lost his trust in Him to any degree. Jeremiah needs to repent. Here we see the conversion of someone who is already converted. If a believer deviates from the path of trusting in the Lord, he must repent of his error and return to the Lord. The LORD’s response is again a correction to Jeremiah’s attitude. Jeremiah must return for else the LORD cannot continue with him. If he returns, that is, longs to trust the LORD again, He will let Jeremiah to return to Himself. He says to him He will help him. Then he will stand before Him again. In God’s presence, Jeremiah can extract the precious from the worthless and have the proper sense of right and wrong. By “the precious” are meant the words spoken by the LORD. By “the worthless” are meant the words he spoke reproachfully to the LORD as a weak man. When he knows again what is precious, he will be able to be the spokesman of the LORD. The application is that we must always separate the good from the evil, the precious from the worthless. Satan will always try to mix that up. And how has he succeeded in professing Christianity. The believer, through the Spirit of God, can know what is precious, what is in accordance with God’s Word, and engage in that. As for the people, they must join Jeremiah and also stand before the LORD. Jeremiah must not under any circumstances return to the people, that is, express and behave as they do and what he has just done in his reproach. We should not blame Jeremiah too much. He is a tormented man by all that he sees around him, while also perceiving the total unwillingness of the people to even listen to his message. The people are insensitive and just continue their evil practices. As a result, he has lost his way for a while and therefore he must return to the LORD and start speaking His words again. Once with the LORD, in His presence and service, there must be no turning back to the unfaithful and no adapting to the wayward desires of a people disobedient to God’s Word. The faithful are to be called to separate themselves from that people and also to come into the presence of the LORD. We also see here that the faithful do not despise the unfaithful people, but feel in their hearts the pain of the position in which the unfaithful people find themselves. The LORD repeats His promise that He made to Jeremiah at his calling ( ; ). He encourages him that He will make him an impregnable fortress. Every battle against him will be futile, for the LORD is with him, to deliver and save him. He rescues from the hand of evildoers and redeems from the grasp of the violent ( ). All of Jeremiah’s enemies are powerless against the LORD of hosts.

‏ Jeremiah 15:19

Rebuke of God and Encouragement

The LORD answers Jeremiah’s complaint that he must return to Him if he has lost his trust in Him to any degree. Jeremiah needs to repent. Here we see the conversion of someone who is already converted. If a believer deviates from the path of trusting in the Lord, he must repent of his error and return to the Lord.

The LORD’s response is again a correction to Jeremiah’s attitude. Jeremiah must return for else the LORD cannot continue with him. If he returns, that is, longs to trust the LORD again, He will let Jeremiah to return to Himself. He says to him He will help him. Then he will stand before Him again.

In God’s presence, Jeremiah can extract the precious from the worthless and have the proper sense of right and wrong. By “the precious” are meant the words spoken by the LORD. By “the worthless” are meant the words he spoke reproachfully to the LORD as a weak man. When he knows again what is precious, he will be able to be the spokesman of the LORD.

The application is that we must always separate the good from the evil, the precious from the worthless. Satan will always try to mix that up. And how has he succeeded in professing Christianity. The believer, through the Spirit of God, can know what is precious, what is in accordance with God’s Word, and engage in that.

As for the people, they must join Jeremiah and also stand before the LORD. Jeremiah must not under any circumstances return to the people, that is, express and behave as they do and what he has just done in his reproach. We should not blame Jeremiah too much. He is a tormented man by all that he sees around him, while also perceiving the total unwillingness of the people to even listen to his message. The people are insensitive and just continue their evil practices. As a result, he has lost his way for a while and therefore he must return to the LORD and start speaking His words again.

Once with the LORD, in His presence and service, there must be no turning back to the unfaithful and no adapting to the wayward desires of a people disobedient to God’s Word. The faithful are to be called to separate themselves from that people and also to come into the presence of the LORD. We also see here that the faithful do not despise the unfaithful people, but feel in their hearts the pain of the position in which the unfaithful people find themselves.

The LORD repeats His promise that He made to Jeremiah at his calling (Jer 15:20; Jer 1:18-19). He encourages him that He will make him an impregnable fortress. Every battle against him will be futile, for the LORD is with him, to deliver and save him. He rescues from the hand of evildoers and redeems from the grasp of the violent (Jer 15:21). All of Jeremiah’s enemies are powerless against the LORD of hosts.